Iowa Starting Line
Sign Up for the Iowa Starting Line Newsletter
-
The cancer risk hiding in most Iowa homes
The Hot Spot: Investigating Cancer in Iowa Share with a friend Amie here. Our cancer series is personal to all of us. But this week’s cancer story is especially personal for me. Longtime subscribers know I lost my mom to lung cancer in 2017, and doctors suspected (because she didn’t have a history…
-
BREAKING: Joni Ernst won’t run, per CBS News
Plus: Your emails and Positively Iowa Share with a friend 🗣️ It’s Friday; time for reader repl—WAIT, BREAKING NEWS: This might not be a huge surprise. Republicans were already souring on her, and prominent Democrats have been lining up to face her in November, with one candidate—state Sen. Zach Wahls—even besting her in…
-
Why Iowa has the same skin cancer rate as Arizona
The Hot Spot: Investigating Cancer in Iowa Share with a friend For decades, tanning used to be a regular part of some (mainly white) folks’ beauty routines. In my parents’ era, that meant slathering on tanning oil and lying out in a swimsuit in direct sunlight. In my era, that meant frequenting a tanning salon,…
-
Have you seen the mountain lion in Iowa?
Your emails and Positively Iowa Share with a friend 🗣️ It’s Friday; time for reader replies! My take: I will not at all be surprised if Iowa Republicans try to pass this unconstitutional Oklahoma BS here when the legislative session starts back up in January. Here’s hoping I’m wrong. Iowa news briefs: Mountain…
-
Iowa cancer survivors share their stories
The Hot Spot: Investigating Cancer in Iowa Share with a friend Gano Whetstone settled into the infusion chair at Des Moines’ Mission Cancer + Blood and asked for her usual: black coffee and a warm blanket. On treatment days, she takes the paratransit bus to the hospital, arriving early to wait in the lobby…
-
1st West Nile case confirmed in northern Iowa
Your emails and Positively Iowa Share with a friend 🗣️ It’s Friday; time for reader replies! Fun fact of the day: William Britton “Bil” Baird was born on this day in 1904. A Mason City native and puppeteer, he created the beloved Charlemane the Lion character, though you might best remember him as the…
-
We need more cancer research. What’s the holdup?
The Hot Spot: Investigating Cancer in Iowa Share with a friend Amie here. I’ve mailed out nitrate test strips to Iowans in 61 different cities; here’s a map of those cities. Glad to see folks from all around the state contributing! If a QR code isn’t your jam, here’s that response form. Now, for…
-
🥘 The best things to eat at the State Fair
Your emails and Positively Iowa Share with a friend 🗣️ It’s Friday; time for reader replies! My take: I see Northern Dewatering, the Minnesota company that illegally drilled around 40 wells on the site of an under-construction Cedar Rapids data center, is being fined $20,000 by Linn County. They’re a private company, so…
-
The link between pesticides and cancer
The Hot Spot: Investigating Cancer in Iowa Share with a friend Amie here. I’m putting your nitrate test strips in the mail this week, so expect that. (If you get an envelope with your address handwritten on a label and no return address, that’s from me!) Inside, you’ll find: a test strip; instructions on…
-
🧈 Heading to the Iowa State Fair? Here’s what to know
Your emails and Positively Iowa Share with a friend It’s Friday, Aug. 1, 2025. 🗣️ It’s Friday; time for reader replies! My take: I hate keeping the windows closed when it’s these fall-like temperatures. But it’s only nice out because Canadian wildfire smoke is keeping the heat at bay—and bringing us that lovely fine…
